In an attempt to lure Dwight Howard away from re-signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Houston Rockets have interest in signing Josh Smith in hopes of securing Howard's services, according to a USA Today report.

Howard opened his free-agency period by meeting with the Rockets on Monday and according to the report, Howard and the Rockets discussed a possible pairing of Smith and Howard in Houston. The only way the Rockets could acquire Smith would be to convince the Atlanta Hawks to engage in a sign-and-trade deal in order for the Rockets to clear enough salary cap space to sign both Howard and Smith.

According to a CBS Sports report, the Rockets have made point guard Jeremy Lin and center Omer Asik available on the trading block. Both players earn $8.3 million for each of the next two seasons. As part of their cap-clearing efforts, the Rockets traded Thomas Robinson to the Portland Trail Blazers last week along with waiving point guard Aaron Brooks and forward Carlos Delfino.